Rollercoaster
by Livill
Summary: Tino's explanation to Peter about death when tragedy strikes. Warning, character death.


The small car slowly screeched to a stop, the locks clicking to allow the doors to open. The small boy crawled into the front seat, smiling over at the much taller man behind the wheel of the car, who was looking down at him with his stern gaze. His eyes slowly shifted up to the window, waving at the friend who had taken care of his son for the day. The Dane waved back, before closing the door to his house. Berwald once again turned his gaze to his son. "Did you enjoy yourself?" The man spoke with a heavy accent, slowly turning his gaze to the road as he put the car out of park, driving away.

"Yeah!" The small boy said happily. "Mikkel told me stories about the Viking times!" Berwald nodded at Peter, showing he was listening while he kept his eyes on the road. "He told me stories of you in high school too, and how you and mama met!" Peter let out a little giggle, while the Swedish man showed no reaction. He was used to the Dane spreading his life stories around, putting them into his son's head. He wasn't too worried, though. Anything too personal would be kept away from the child.

"What's for dinner, Papa?" Peter piped up, putting a hand on his stomach to show he was hungry.

"Dunno. Your mama said it was good, though."

"It's always good!" The small boy looked up, fixing his hat with a wide grin.

Berwald was going about 50 mph when he started into the intersection. The green light kept him going, and the man didn't slow at all. He wasn't aware of the truck barreling into the intersection until it was blaring at him with its horn. The man turned to look at it, eyes going wide, before the truck t-boned his small car. The last thing he heard before his vision went black was Peter's scream.

oOoOoO

Tino stared at the table, worry evident on his face. From his place at the length of the table he looked to his right, where Berwald would sit. Empty, just like his left, where his son, Peter, would devour his food. His eyes drifted to the middle, staring at the food that was quickly becoming cold.

Multiple times had he tried Berwald's cellphone, each time receiving no answer. He even called Mikkel, just to make sure Berwald hadn't decided to stay and chat with the two, but the Dane only added to his worry by telling him he had left as soon as he had picked up Peter.

"Where are they?" The Finnish man muttered to himself, making himself busy with wrapping up the food to keep it fresh. Hamatamango ran around, following the man as he put the food into the fridge, turning to stare at the table. His cellphone started to ring, playing off the ringtone he had set for his Norwegian friend. Rushing over, he picked it up.

"Hello?" He spoke softly. Lukas hardly ever called, especially when he was at work. Being a doctor and all, the man hardly had time to chat.

"Tino, it's Lukas. Berwald…" He stopped, and Tino grew anxious. "I need you to come to the hospital, Tino. It's important."

"Is everything okay?" Tino let the worry seep into his voice.

"No. Please, I don't want to explain this over the phone."

"O-okay…I'll be there soon, Lukas!" The two hung up, and Tino rushed out the door. Something happened. Something involving Berwald and his son, and that had landed them in the hospital. Lukas didn't want to talk about it over the phone, so that something had to be bad. The Finnish man sped down the road, parking the car as he made it to the hospital, hurrying into it. The blond haired man was greeted by a silver haired nurse.

"Emil, Lukas called me. He sai-"

"I know," Emil led him to a chair. "Sit down, I'll go get Lukas," The boy turned to walk away, but Tino grabbed onto the sleeve of his magenta scrubs.

"Please, please tell me what happened…" Tino looked up at him.

"Berwald was in a car accident," Emil's expression was soft. Tino let go of his sleeve as his eyes widened, and the silver haired boy took this chance to walk away, leaving Tino alone. It didn't take long for Lukas to walk over, putting a hand on Tino's shoulder.

"Tino, I'm sorry," Tino felt his heart sink deeper into his chest at the words. "Berwald… There was too much trauma," Lukas didn't let any emotion onto his face, making sure he was looking away from the smaller man. "He died in the ambulance."

Tino let out a choked sob, covering his face with his hands. It took him a while to calm himself down, looking up at Lukas. "W-what about Peter?" he whispered, afraid he had lost his little boy too.

"Peter only has a few scrapes, surprisingly," the Norwegian explained. Lukas started to explain what had happened, how the bigger truck had rammed into Berwald's side of the car, how it had been a drunk driver who was driving well over 80 mph when the cars collided. Tino just started sobbing again, and his friend put an arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him to the best of his ability.

"C-can I see him?" The Finnish man spoke up slowly. "C-can I say g-goodbye…to my husband?" Lukas nodded and led the way to the room. He left Tino alone, walking out to look after the small boy until his mama was done. Tino sat beside the bed, looking at the lifeless husband he loved. He took his hand, pressed it against his cheek. It was cold. Crying still, Tino sat like that for what seemed like an eternity, before slowly standing up and placing the hand on Berwald's chest.

"Rakastan sinua," he pressed his lips to Berwald's forehead, letting a few tears drip onto his face. Slowly, he left the man, casting one last look at him before he walked out the door. Lukas was waiting for him a little ways down the hall.

"Peter is in here," he said, nodding to the door. "I'm sorry for your loss, Tino. Berwald was a good man," Tino just nodded and the Norwegian pat his shoulder, before walking off. Tino walked into the room slowly, forcing a smile as he saw Peter look up at him with his bright blue eyes.

"Mama!" The small boy moved to get off the bed, hugging the man tight. Tino hugged him back, and then picked him up.

"Hi baby," he whispered.

"Mama, you look so sad!" Tino knew that the boy would have to know sooner or later. He sat on the bed, holding Peter in his lap.

"Honey, your papa…well, he…" Tino bit his lip, trying to think of how he could explain this. "You know rollercoasters, right?" The small boy shook his head.

"They're really fun!"

"Right. Well, life… It's like a rollercoaster. It has twists and turns, and sometimes it just flies by, while other times it goes really slow… It can get really high or really low," Peter kept nodding, showing he was following along. "W-well…" Tino choked back tears. "Sometimes the rollercoaster stops, and…and you need to get off… Papa… Papa had to get off," the Finnish man sniffed, closing his eyes. Peter blinked up at him, his smiling slowly fading.

"But…if Papa had to get off, does that mean he went to Valhalla?" Tino opened his eyes, looking down at the boy. "The Valkyries took him away, huh?" Peter was pouting, and Tino could only nod. "Well, I guess that's okay… That means Papa will be watching over us, Mama! He'll be feasting on the stuff that Vikings eat and waiting for us until our rollercoasters stop too!" Peter hugged Tino. "So, don't cry, Mama! Papa is okay! He's having fun in Valhalla while he waits for us."

Tino slowly hugged the child back, crying silently. He was right. Berwald was in Valhalla, waiting, until it was their time to get off the ride. Until they met again, in Valhalla.


End file.
